Generally, an electrical connector typically includes some form of dielectric housing designed in a predetermined configuration for mating with a complementary mating connector or other connecting device such as a printed circuit board or the like. The housing mounts a plurality of conductive terminals which have contacting and/or terminating portions for engaging the terminals or circuits of the complementary mating connector or other connecting device. Some connectors are provided with conductive shields, such as stamped and formed sheet metal shrouds, which cover or surround at least portions of the housing. The shields provide protection against the ingress and/or egress of electromagnetic interference (EMI) . The connector shield typically is grounded to a shield of the complementary mating connector shield enclosure or to ground traces on a printed circuit board.
In some applications, shielded electrical connectors are designed for mounting within apertures in a conductive chassis, panel or backplane. The shield of the connector typically is grounded to the chassis in areas about the aperture at which the connector is mounted. It is highly desirable to provide a good or strong engagement between the shield and the chassis to provide an adequate ground path therebetween. On the other hand, the strong interengagement between the shield and the chassis causes problems in creating undesirable forces in oblique directions not appropriate for given applications. The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a shielded electrical connector system wherein an electrical connector is mounted in an opening in a conductive channel and the shield of the connector engages the channel in precise directions.